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ALERT: Voting Machines in South Carolina Changing Voter Choices

South Carolina voters are reporting that voting machines are changing their choices and other irregularities, according the The Hill:

Officials in Richland County, S.C., are looking into reports by voters that their voting machines were selecting the opposite candidates they chose.

A local CBS station reported Tuesday morning that some voters have complained they’ve noticed votes for several races, including the state’s governor’s race, being registered for a party they did not want to select while reviewing the confirmation page before submitting their ballots.

One voter told the station she attempted to correct her vote several times before a poll worker had to move her to another machine.

Richland County Elections Director Rokey Suleman told the news station that he believes the voting malfunctions were caused by a calibration issue with the machines.

He told the news station that officials are now working to recalibrate the machines and also noted that it is typical for recalibrations as much as three times on Election Day.

However, officials told the news station the site is also experiencing other malfunctions with cords and nonfunctioning outlets as the polling site deals with a higher than normal voter turnout for the midterms.

This comes on top of reports of voting problems in both Arizona as reported by USA Today:

Election Day got off to a rocky start when voters in one town outside Phoenix showed up to vote only to find their polling place had been foreclosed upon the day before.

Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes said the landlord of the building, which appears to be a strip mall, locked it overnight after workers had already set up the polling place.

There are ballots inside the building, he said.

Fontes said his staff is working with the sheriff’s office to see whether they can forcibly enter the property to collect the ballots and equipment.

That sounds like a big screw-up, hopefully that gets resolved quickly.

There are also reports of some problems with early voting in Texas:

Texans submitting ballots in early voting reported problems with voting machines switching some of their selections, a problem state officials said was connected to Hart eSlate machines used in about 30 percent of counties in the state.

They said it can occur when users fill out and submit ballots too quickly.

Voters should double-check their selections shown on a screen before submitting their ballots.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is taking on Democratic challenger Rep. Beto O’Rourke in one closely watched race in the state.

Cruz had a 6 percentage point lead heading into Election Day in the RealClearPolitics average.

Ohio voters also experienced some minor issues:

Voters in Greater Cincinnati encountered long lines and a few technical glitches as they cast ballots Tuesday morning.

Election officials said voters and poll workers were confused by a change in the voting machine system there that now alerts voters if they have “under voted,” or left some races on their ballots blank.

Electronic voting machines there reportedly rejected some ballots that had not been completely filled out.

It’s still early, and we’ll let you know of any other voting irregularities as we learn about them.

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